Sir, – Given the recent publicity generated by Monaghan United’s defeat to Shelbourne, will Ireland waken up and actively decide to protect sport? To date the favoured response is the game of “head in the sand”; it does not happen in Ireland.
Factually, UEFA has been informed of irregular betting patterns on last week’s defeat of Monaghan United by Shelbourne, which now casts a shadow over the Airtricity League.
Match fixing is a serious international scourge. Ireland is not immune. Will the media and those in sporting authority in Ireland begin to treat it with the respect it deserves or remain complicit in their silence?
Despite being the Council of Europe’s Investigating Expert on the issue of organised crime in sport, from September 2010 to October 2011), our national broadcaster, national media and sporting bodies took virtually no interest in the concerns that I was uncovering.
Others are concerned. My International Written Declaration lodged in the Council of Europe Parliament (2011), was signed by 86 members from 35 countries, calling for urgent action to combat this most serious attack on the integrity of sport. On April 25th, 2012, the report that I began, “Match Fixing in Sport”, was passed unanimously in Strasbourg. Did it get any mention in Ireland? Those of us who love sport must remain vocal – even when our voices are not popular or given credence. Alas, by the time the evidence is presented, much of our sporting integrity could already be gone. What impact will that have on Irish sport in the future? – Yours, etc,